The Balance of Performance in the World Endurance Championship will no longer be made public in 2026, in a move aimed at preventing speculation and misinterpretation, the FIA and ACO officials explained during a media briefing at Imola.
As teams were still arriving at the circuit on Thursday morning, a small group of media outlets – including Motorsport.com – heard from Bruno Famin and Marek Nawarecki about the decision, which was taken just ahead of the new season.
The meeting began with an overview of the purpose of BoP in the championship: to prevent runaway development costs while allowing cars of different technical concepts to compete on equal terms through performance balancing.
As part of the process, each car’s parameters are initially defined during homologation – based on factors such as aerodynamics, weight and centre of gravity, fuel consumption, engine type and drivetrain – before being refined through on-track analysis.
However, rumours had already begun circulating in the paddock during the Prologue that the detailed BoP tables would no longer be published for each event. The decision raised eyebrows ahead of the Imola 6 Hours, which kicks off the season this weekend.
While cars have been running with BoP applied in testing, the exact figures – including weight, power and energy allocation – are now known only to the teams.
“We want to avoid any misunderstanding, because it is difficult to explain to the public the details and differences applied to each car and its characteristics,” said Famin, who recently joined the ACO.
“The initial balancing is done during homologation, then we go to the track and assess the real performance of the car, fuel and tyre consumption, the quality of the drivers and so on. But drivers are also very good at managing situations, so the variables multiply.
“BoP is only a very small part of the final result. We also have to consider setup, strategy and specific race situations.
“There are many factors that influence performance, and not all of them are within our control. Results are also a product of driver ability, merit and the quality of the team’s work. What we can do through the regulations is ensure this is applied equally to everyone, while avoiding the kind of spending seen in the LMP1 era.”
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Nawarecki, FIA circuit sport director, added: “We have to ‘clean’ the data to analyse it properly, based on the parameters Bruno mentioned. Every track is different, every driver approaches each sector differently – using kerbs more or less, managing tyre wear, slipstreaming on the straights, and so on.
“In the end, the issue is not lap time itself, but how it is achieved. If we tell the public that one car has 20kg more or less, it can lead to incorrect interpretations.
“That’s because the public doesn’t have access to the homologation parameters or the data we collect, so it cannot fully understand the decisions being made.”
Nawarecki also confirmed that all cars returned to the wind tunnel for re-homologation ahead of 2026, although this is not expected to significantly affect BoP application.
“We know the changes made compared to last year, but they are not that significant. However, we have taken into account the introduction of new tyres,” he said.
Another topic discussed was the potential introduction of a Success Handicap in the Hypercar class, which had initially appeared in draft 2026 regulations before being dropped.
“We already have enough variables with BoP, so we decided not to introduce more,” said Nawarecki. “With only eight races, there is a risk that competitors would start to hold back, and we want everyone to push at the limit at all times.
“It existed in WTCC, but there were 16 races, so managing results was part of the game. Here, it doesn’t make sense.”
The limited eight-round calendar has also influenced how BoP will be managed across the season.
“With only eight events, it’s difficult to apply a season-long BoP,” Famin explained. “If we had 20 races, that might be possible. But given how different each circuit is, it makes more sense to adapt the BoP for each event.”
He also confirmed there will be no changes to BoP during a race weekend.
“At most, adjustments could be made before an event if there are dedicated tests, such as for Le Mans. But for the 24 Hours, it’s too early to say anything. We will wait and see how the first two races go.
“Again, we want to avoid speculation and any risk of teams holding back at Imola or Spa, or thinking that we might be hiding something for Le Mans. For now, we prefer not to comment further and will see how things evolve.”
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